Valve for garment pressing machines



Oct. 9, 1934. B PlERCE 1,976,578

VALVE FOR GARMENT PRESSING MACHINES Z WWW/AIM WITNESS ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 9, 1934 VALVE FOR GARMENT PRESSING MAQHINES e AllenBjlierce,Syracuse, N. Y., .assignor to UniversalTPressingMachine Company, Qswego,

I N. I}, "a: corporation of New York l .Application November 29, 1932, Serial No. 644,851

This invention relates 'gen'erally to garment pressing machines'designed for use by laundries, tailors, and the like. The inventionrelates particularly to novel means for controlling the'use II of live steam for spraying certain garments while '2'01 that the portion of the'steam'employed for spraying freely rises from said chamber, envelops the valve support and normally exerts its pressure for seating the valve. A further object is to provide means complementary tothe steam pressure for automatically depressing and closing the valve after each pressing operation; the valve and its seat being disposed near the top of the housing and being removable therefromwithout disturbingits support or the housing proper. [By Ithis novel construction and arrangement, the expansion and contraction of the housing, and the valve and related parts are-so localized as to forestall leakage at the valve or at the several joints of the'housing. And afurther object is to" provide-a novel valve lifter which maybe rocked manually against the resistance of the automatic valve closing means to efiect the spraying of the garments. i I attain these objects by the means set forth in the detailed description: which follows and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which-- .i Figure 1 is a front elevation ofithe valve hous-. ing and related parts. Fig.2 is a horizontal section taken on'line 2-2 of Fig.1. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section taken on'line 3-3 of- Fig. 2. And Fig. 4 is an enlarged exploded elevational viewiof the valve and its tubular support.

.In' the drawing, Zrepresents the movable head of the garmentpressing machine," which, during the pressing operations, overlies the usual stationary buck, as 3", shown in Fig; 3. The head 2 is formed with a relatively large heating chamber 2.", which lies'betweentop and bottom walla-as 2a--'-2b, In practice, the chamber 2- is charged "f 5 Claims. (01. 251- 134) with live steam, by which the head is suitably heated for efiecting'various pressing and ironing, operations. At convenient coinciding points, the walls 2a2b are bulged upwardly, as at. 2c-2d; and the top extremities of these portions are pref-i erably'cylindrical and are'respectively bored and threaded, as at 2e-2f (see Fig. 3). The bottom 2b of the head is preferably formed with a continuous depending flange 2x, to which is detachably secured the usual foraminous plate 4, that constitutes the pressing surface or face of the head. This provides a clear, shallow chamber? between the bottom 22) and the plate 4 for the.

proper distribution of the spraying fluid throughout the area of the said plate, the openings 40 in the plate 4 facilitating the spraying of the garments (not'shown) that overlie the buck 3, s {i The valve that controls the spraying of the garments' consists of a disc 5, which is mounted upon the lower end of v a stem 5, the latter being threaded medially, as at 5a, to receive andadjustably supporta disc-shaped stop 5b, by which opening, as well as other movements of the valve may be gauged. The valve is normally supported by an upright removable tubular member 6 whose top end 6' is formed cup-shaped to receive and guide the valve, the bottom Gaof the cup providing an annular seat forthe'valveg The wallsof this cup are preferably. perforatedradially, asat 61), substantially in the plane of seat Ga for the admission of the, sprayingvapor to thebore or member 6 whenever the valve is liftedaway from its seat. The member 6 extends downwardly acrossthe steam chamber '2', itslow- 1 7 er end being threaded and passing through the opening 2 and discharging the spraying fluid into the chamber fl through a series of radial openings 6c, shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The upper portion of the support 6, valve 5 and stem 5' are disposed concentrically and loosely in a housing compris ing a hollow cylindrical member 'Tand an enlarged co-axial cylindrical hood 'l whosemeet ingfends are coupled by means of a gland-nut 8 that engages external threads of the hood '7. The end 7a of the member '7 and the lower end 7b of the "hood constitute'a ball-and-socket' structure that renders this joint steamand-pressure' tight, without the use of any packing. The lower end of member '7 isscrewed into the threaded portion 2e. The support 6 and thehousing 77' are entirely separated and" are so arranged as to provide a clear passage or chamber, as 9," that entirely surrounds the member 6 and carries the steam upwardly from chamber 2. of the head to the top of hood 'l, where its pressure is normally exerted to depress and seat the valve 5, as well as to dispense the spraying fluid when the valve is opened, as explained. The top end of thecounter-bored to receive and guide the top end-of 10 the valve stem as well as to provide an annular,

seat for the top end of a compression spring 53:,-

whose lower end rests upon the stop 5b and exerts a complementary tension for depressing and'i closing the valve 5, as shown in Fig. 3.

a, transverse hollow rib 10, having a closed end and anopen chambered and externally threaded end 10a, that projects beyond the hood. Within this rib, is disposed a shaft 12, its inner end being reduced at 12' and journaling in a socket 101), while its outer end portion is journaled' in 'a. threadedbushing 13. comprising onem'ember of a stufling box that includes said bushing and a gland-n'ut13'- The chamber 100 is preferably' filled with packing'lBa, which prevents leakage of the steam from the hood. Near its inner end the shaft 12 is fitted with a collar 14 which supports a fork 14 that extends into the hood, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This fork coincides with the valve 5. and loosely receives the valve stem 5 and is in constant engagement with the stop 51). The outer end 12a of shaft 12 is fittedwith a hand lever 15, by which the shaft may be rocked in the direction for lifting the stop 5b and unseating the valve against the tension of spring 5x; as may be understood by consulting Fig. 3. "The fork '14 ispreferably broadenough to permit the valve 5 and stem 5 to be removed bodily from the hood by passing them through the fork and the opening 70. r

Thesteam for heating the head may be sup-i pliedto thechamber 2' by a port a 'and may be discharged from said chamberfthrough a port b (see Fig. 3) By this arrangement, the steam is constantly in motion and maintains a steady heat throughout the head 2 and the valve housing. In practice, the housing 7+-7' extends five or six inches above the normal top plane of the head 2, so that the steam confined in the hood is rela-. tively. dry. This tends greatly to minimize the moisture of the spraying fluid and obviates all danger. of over-wetting the garments. Due to the fact'that-the lower end of the housing 7.is normally open, as shown in Fig. 3, all'condensation that occurs in the hood 7, as well as inthe leg 7, drains back into the chamberl 2. .And furthermore, any condensation that tends to collect in the cup 6' of the support 6 also drains through the ports 622 into the passage 91 The small amount I of steam that remains. in the tubular support 6 following each spraying operation, will ordinarily be quickly dissipated by the high temperature that obtains within. thehous ing, so that there is no danger of any drip from condensation finding its way into the chamber 4. Y

Thecomplete separation of the housing and tubular valve support, as herein shown and described, not only greatly facilitates the construction and assembling of said parts, but tends to so localize the expansion and contraction as to obviate all danger of such thermal changes causing leakage atv the several joints orv otherwise interfering with the proper functioning of the-come posite structure. I

{ 5 Obviously, the valve '5 maybe'mountedon the N connected to the lower section, a removable clo- Near its'lower end, the hood 7' is'formed with:

buck, if desired, and the pressing surface of the latter may also be perforated to facilitate emission of the spraying fluid.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is-- v ,1. In a valve of the type set forth, a chambered support, .a housing composed of a lower section connected to the support and communicating with the chamber, an upper section removably sure for the upper end of the upper section having aguide therein, a tubular member connected .atiits lower end to the support and having ports for dischargingfluid beneath the support, said member being spaced from the housing to form a passage and having its upper end formed with an open-ended cup-shaped part disposed above the upper end of the lower section and having radial ports adjacent the-bottom of the cup-shaped part, a valve slidable in the cup for controlling the entry of fluid into the member seating against the bottom of the cup, a spring tensionedstem in the housing engaged at its upper end in said guide of the closure, and means foroperating the stem having a part in the upper section of the, housing engaged with the stern-between the ends of the stem. 7 I

2. In a valve of the type set forth, a chamberedsupport, a housing connected to the support and communicating with the chamber, a tubular member connected. at its lower end to the sup port and having ports for discharging fluid below the support, said member-beingspaced from the housing to form a passage and having its upper end open and communicating with the pas- 11o sage whereby fluid in the chamber; will enter the member, a valve for controlling the entry of fluid into the member, a stem for the ;valve-havingan abutment, a removableclosure for the upper end of the tubular member, a spring on the stem :15 engaged with the closure and with the abutment of the valve stem, and meansfor operating the valve including. a forked member straddling the stem and engaged with the abutment thereofand having the space between the tines of them!) forked member greater than the diameter of the valve whereby topermit the valve tobeslid past the forked member and with its associated parts removed from the tubular member upon removal of theclosure.

g 3. In avalve of; the typeset forth, a chambered support,-a-housing composedof a pair of superposed sections the lower of .whichyis connected to the support and communicates with thechami ber, means to removably connect the adjacent ends of the sections together, a tubular'member connected at its lower .end'to the support and having ports for discharging fluid below-the sup: port, said memberbeing spaced from the housing to form a passage and having its upperenddisposed adjacent to theupperendof the lower section'and formed with an open-ended cup-shaped part and having radial portsadjacent the bottom of the cup-shaped part, a valve controlling the entry of fluid into the memberslidablein the cup and seating against the. bottom of the latter,

a spring tensioned stem in the housing carry-i ing the. valve and guidedin. the upper end of the housing, and means for operating the stem havinga part in the housing engaged with the stem between the ends ofthe stem. l

4., In a valve of the type set forth, a chambered support,a sectional housing connected to the sup-' port and communicating with 1 the. chamber, meansto removably connect the-housing sections 1 50 together, a tubular member connected at its lower end to the support and having ports for discharging fiuid below the support, said member being spaced from the housing to form a passage and having its upper end formed with a cupshaped part, disposed adjacent to the points of connection of the sections, that has open ends, said cup-shaped part having its top communicating with said passage and also having ports which communicate with the passage, a valve for controlling the entry of fluid into the member having seating engagement with the lower end of the cup-shaped part, and means to operate the valve.

5. In a valve of the type set forth, a chambered support, a sectional housing connected to the support and communicating with the chamber, means to removably connect the sections together, a tubular member connected at its lower end to the support and having ports for discharging fluid below the support, said member being spaced from the housing to form a passage and having its upper end open and disposed adjacent to the points of connection of the sections and communicating with the passage whereby fluid in the chamber will flow through the passage and over the top of and into the member, a valve for controlling the entry of fluid into the member, and means for operating the valve.

ALLEN B. PIERCE. 

